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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27683741">One Way Journey</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/monkiainen/pseuds/monkiainen'>monkiainen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Case Fic, Fairy Tale Elements, M/M, Monsters, Paranormal, Victorian Science Fiction, something wicked this way comes - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:34:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,063</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27683741</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/monkiainen/pseuds/monkiainen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Science isn't answer to everything, despite what Sherlock Holmes thinks.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sherlock Holmes/John Watson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Holmestice Exchange - Winter 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>One Way Journey</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/gifts">FleetSparrow</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The atmosphere was thick with excitement, with the fear of unknown. They really shouldn't be here, but all the clues were pointing to the long-abandoned salt mine in Wincham. The trouble was there was something no one could really explain – a sense of foreign entity, something not quite belonging to this world.</p>
<p>Holmes had shrugged off the stories surrounding the old salt mine as an overly vivid imagination of uneducated minds. Everything could be explained by science and knowledge if one only knew what to look out for. Holmes was so sure he could crack the secrets of the old mine just by going there and looking around.</p>
<p>Watson wasn't so sure about it.</p>
<p>Truthfully speaking, it wasn't the first time he had seen similar incidents – strange happenings no one really knew how to explain. There had been that one time in Maiwand, just before the battle he was injured when something sinister had woken them up at night. It was something big and fast, filling their dreams with nightmares and terror. It wasn't because of the upcoming battle, even if later on that's what everybody kept on saying. But Watson didn't believe them the slightest. He knows what he had seen and felt that night.</p>
<p>Holmes had ignored Watson when he tried telling the detective that there were things he couldn't explain away with science.</p>
<p>"You just don't know what you're dealing with, and your mind fills the gaps with fairy tales and obscure dreams. There is no such thing as supernatural happenings", Holmes had said during their journey to Wincham. It had stung, just a little bit, because for once Watson would like Holmes to admit that he wasn't the only smart one in their relationship. Watson was an accomplished doctor for crying out loud, not just some bumbling peasant!</p>
<p>Watson can see Holmes is getting frustrated by the evidence he is gathering from the villagers. They are all saying the same thing: there is something sinister living in the old mine, and those who had been brave enough to explore it had never returned. No one could really say what exactly was the thing, but they all knew the mine was a dangerous place to be.</p>
<p>"Those poor sods probably got lost in the mine and never found their way out. It's the most logical explanation of why no one ever returned", Holmes announced.</p>
<p>But if that was the case, how come no bodies were ever found?</p>
<p>Holmes hmphed and continued writing down his theories of what had really occurred in the mine.</p>
<p>It was decided that they would explore the mine themselves the next night. Watson had a bad feeling about the whole plan, and his anxiety rose even higher when he realised it was going to be a full moon that night. It was a bad omen, that what's it was, but as usual, Holmes didn't want to listen. Holmes was more concerned about proving his theories right that listening to Watson's babbling about "something wicked this way comes".</p>
<p>Hence why they were here, standing in front of the entrance to the mine. It was quiet, too quiet because even the nature around them seemed to sense the mine was a sinister place. It was almost like they were inside a bubble, completely shut off from the rest of the world.</p>
<p>Even Holmes looked a bit paler than usual, but he was hiding it quite well. Or would have, if he had been there with anyone else than Watson. Nevertheless, Watson was glad he had insisted on bringing his service sidearm with him. Even if logically he knew a mere firearm wouldn't probably be effective against whatever they were facing, the fact he had it with him gave him some comfort. If only Holmes would stop for a second so they could figure out the best course of action – but no, the lanky detective was already stepping inside the mine, caution almost completely disappeared.</p>
<p>With a heavy sigh, Watson followed his partner in crime, sending a quiet prayer to whatever entity was watching over them that they would return safely from their endeavour.</p>
<p>Later on, when people were asking what kind of creature dwelled at the bottom of the mine, Watson could only answer that he had no idea. It was a half-truth at best, but people seemed to trust Watson's words on it. Why, he couldn't understand, but perhaps it was because of his reputation as a respectable Army Doctor that people trusted his judgement.</p>
<p>And it was not like Watson was lying. He had no idea what to called the <i>enormous</i> beast they had encountered. It was almost like a spider – a large, hairy thing with eight legs and too many eyes to count for. But it couldn't be a spider, no, that was impossible, because the—whatever it was—was able to talk. And not just meaningful phrases, no – the creature was able to hold an intelligent conversation with Holmes.</p>
<p>How they had managed to leave was a mystery to Watson. He had no recollection of what had happened after the – thing <i>(it had called itself Gogara, he thinks)</i> -- had regretfully announced that because it was hiding no one could ever know where and what he was. There had been a poison of some kind, and spiderwebs but stronger – and Watson wasn't sure if he had imagined the whole thing or not. The evidence suggested otherwise, but it didn't make any sense.</p>
<p>Holmes wasn't any help. When he was being asked about their adventure, Holmes simply refused to answer or changed the subject completely. Watson knew it was because, for the first time in Holmes's life, science had failed him and wasn't able to give him the explanation he sorely needed. Neither of them had no idea how they had managed to off the mine with no injuries, and yet there they were in the morning, sleeping soundly and unharmed.</p>
<p>Later on, the villagers would tell tales about two gentlemen from London, who had bravely entered the mine and returned the next morning. Some said the one with the moustache had shot the beast with his sidearm, the others said the lanky one had used some kind of magic to get rid of the beast. What they knew for sure was that the sinister feeling that had once surrounded the area was gone for good.</p>
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